As you all know, I love finding a good bargain, but I am totally disgusted with Black Friday.  Last year I ranted and raved to everyone in the family about Walmart, Target and Kmart opening on Thanksgiving evening.  I just didn’t understand why  it was necessary to shop on Thanksgiving after dinner.  Thanksgiving is meant to be a day spent with your family and friends  sitting around eating, playing, watching football and  reflecting on what you are thankful for.

This year is even worse than last year.  Yesterday I was driving down Harbor Blvd. on my way to Home Depot to buy light bulbs and I saw this sign on the side of Kmart.

Thanksgiving morning at 6am, 4pm and 8pm?  Is this a joke?  What about family flag football games, or walks together.   Who is cooking the turkey and playing with the kids?   Seriously something is really wrong with our country.  Why do we value material things more than our family?  I think it is so sad.  What about all the workers who aren’t getting to spend Thanksgiving with their families.  Even if they get paid overtime, is that really compensation enough?  They are missing a moment in time they can never get back.  What if they have children, what happens then?  Do the kids have to stay with a babysitter on Thanksgiving?  Is this what our country is coming to?

When I was a child if you forgot to buy something for your Thanksgiving dinner you couldn’t just run out to the market and get it last minute.  The markets closed on Wednesday at 10pm and didn’t open again until Friday at 6am.  Everyone was forced to spend time with their friends and family whether they liked it not.  Of course the holidays can be daunting especially if you have to drive or travel long distances to see the ones you love, but isn’t that what life is all about? Putting effort into building relationships and spending time with people, NOT STUFF.

Today after church we were on our way to South Coast Plaza for lunch at Crystal Court and this is what I saw on the corner of Bristol and the entrance to the shopping center with Best Buy.

As we were stopped at the light I asked Trinity “What do think those people are doing?”  Her response, “I bet they are lining up for the new Twilight movie.”  “Well, it came out 3 days ago honey, so I don’t think so.”  I grabbed my phone a took a picture just as she said “Oh, they must be lining up for Black Friday at Best Buy.”  “OMG, you are totally right Trin, that is crazy.”

As soon as we got inside the mall Trin started telling my parents about the people living on the sidewalk waiting for Black Friday deals at Best Buy.  My Mom went more ballistic than me.  “What are those people waiting to buy?  Are they having a turkey delivered on Thanksgiving?  What the hell is wrong with them?”  And so she went on and on as we tried to conceive of what they could possibly be buying that they needed to wait in line for 6 days.  A Television, a cell phone, a DVD player?

Do they have jobs?  If not, how can they afford the items they are waiting to buy?  If they are actually employed how can they afford to take time off from work that long for a discount.  The whole concept is baffling to me and rather repulsive.

I personally will not be shopping anywhere on Thanksgiving and I hope none of my readers will be either.  Sometimes it feels like raising a family with proper morals and traditions is an up hill battle.  I try to keep focused on teaching my kids to value people not things but sometimes it feels impossible with the constant inundation of ads everywhere we go. 

Happy Monday!!!

xoxo tiffani